Dawn Brocco's Life & Design Blog

Elizabeth Durand has OK'd my enclosing her email and info from a post to the Socknitters list in September, regarding CIC knit garment needs.

Elizabeth's latest info:
"Karen Porter is going to Russia early in February -- it's not one of the classic Big Trips, but she sure can pack. She's visiting primarily the little kids homes, so toddler sizes are most needed. (For those who object, CIC tries to give money to the older kids' homes, for trade
programs, to try to prepare the kids to take care of themselves after they leave the orphanages -- and the bigger kids are taught to knit their own socks)."

And the info from the Sept. post:
"It's not a Big Trip, but Karen Porter will be going to Russia this winter, probably at the end of January. She'll be visiting the homes in Moscow where her boys spent their early lives, and she reports that things are not getting any better. In other words - kids are still cold!
Socknitters, start your needles! As always, a minimum of 50% wool (more is better) is required. For those who wonder what happens to the socks after they're delivered,whenever Karen goes over, she sees many familiar pairs of socks, now well worn, on the kids, even when the orphanage hasn't been told she's coming. These do get used, and really
make a difference in keeping these kids comfortable. Someone on another list I read reported that a friend's daughter, who spent her first few years in Russian orphanage care, remembers having miserably cold feet all the time and was thrilled to learn that large numbers of knitters are making socks for the kids still there.

Karen will be visiting the baby homes, so socks are needed to fit kids from about 1 year old to about 4-year-old size. (For those who worry about the bigger kids - and I always do -- Karen will be visiting older kid's orphanages too but will be taking money for the trades programs and as much wool as I can suck the air out of for the older kids to knit for themselves.) Use thick worsted and you're done before you know it. I'd love to see us really pile them up.

Use any pattern you like. If you need one, or need a new one, here are some links to free patterns for kids‚ socks available on the Internet (I just checked all these links, and they were all working within the last half hour):

Claudia Krisniski's short-row heel design, written for CIC

knit these in heavy worsted, and they'll fit bigger kids

if you're afraid of turning heels, these are still warm

Joan's Kids Socks

Click on Free Patterns, then on socks for babies and kids

Linda Nelson's design in sport weight yarn; picot edge (easy) and no ribbing. Standard heel flap

the kids wear socks indoors without shoes, so these are fine

SWEATERS AND VESTS
OK, now for the rest of the stuff. CIC knitters who don't want to do socks. Karen also would love to take a big pile of vests or sweaters for the kids, and shawls for the wonderful women who take care of them (for very little money, I might add). They're cold too! Use any pattern you like. Again, at least 50% wool, for sweaters, vests, and scarves and 75% or 100% is even better.

For the kids, sizes 2 and 4 are most needed, and those are fast. For vests, the CIC list loves
Claudia Krisniski's bulky weight vest pattern

(Note: set it to landscape mode before you print, and you'll be a lot happier with the
results.) If you don't have bulky yarn, use two strands of worsted - the size 4 takes only about 400 yards, which is 2 skeins of most worsteds. And feel free not to knit the pocket if that worries you. And here are two sweater patterns:

V-Neck Pullover

a basic V-neck, and this pattern, written for CIC and ideal for using up lots of scraps

A friend of mine who's been to Russia in the winter says she's never seen a grayer place in her life, so color is good when you're knitting for these kids.


CAREGIVER SHAWLS
For caregiver shawls, a great resource for patterns is
www.knitlist.com Click on the right for the gift list, then sort by category. Red is a very popular color, so don't feel you have to be restrained. On the other hand, gray wool is every bit as warm and will be equally treasured.

If you're afraid of making something as big as a shawl, or have some great yarn, but a smaller amount, warm, woolen scarves are also acceptable. These should be the kind to keep you covered in the snow, not the glitzy kind to fling casually around your neck at a party - a bare minimum of 7 inches wide and 40 inches long. Again, if you don't have a pattern, the knitlist's gift list is a great resource.



TOYS
Finally, Karen REALLY wants to take a whole lot of knitted bears, 4 to 7 inches tall. Beanie Babies are great, but a hand knitted bear has lots more love in it! (Crocheted and hand-sewn bears are OK too.) Think smaller - three 4-inch teddies take less space than one 12-inch bear, because the little ones are proportionally skinnier. Feel free to use any pattern. If you need one, here are some links to free Internet patterns - remember, using skinnier yarn than called for, and adjusting arm and leg lengths accordingly, will produce a smaller bear:

Tiny Teddy Bear pattern˜these are three inches high and are crocheted

buddybears - these are knitted

This one is sewn

The pattern for either a knitted or crocheted bear distributed through Teddies for Tragedies is available here

Mr Bean Style Teddy Bear, knitted in garter stitch

The trip isn't going until January (now February), but by all means send things early
if that suits you so you don't (1) misplace them or (2) drown Kathy Graziani in a sea of last-minute shipments. Her address is:

Kathy Graziani
9124 Flamepool Way
Columbia, MD 21045

Thanks, everyone!!"
Elizabeth Durand's email

More CIC info from Elizabeth in my Heels and Toes Gazette, issue #8, the CIC issue:
"Children in Common is an information and relief group, administered by Adoptions Together, Inc., an accredited adoption agency that facilitates adoptions domestically and from countries of the former Soviet Union. It was started by a group of adoptive parents, who were horrified at the conditions they found in the orphanages, when they went to get their children, and were moved to try to do something to help. CIC's mission is to provide material support for the children left behind in orphanage care.

The group organizes goodwill trips that deliver tons of supplies, and throughout the year, every
parent who goes over, to pick up a newly adopted child, takes a suitcase or two of clothes, school supplies, medicines, etc. Everything is delivered by hand, so nothing gets "lost" in the mail. For more information on CIC, you can check
their web site

Conditions at the orphanages are desperately poor - many of the homes don't even have hot
water for baths and indoor temperatures, during the winter, may hover around 45 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s 7 degrees Celsius). Some workers go for months without being paid, and some of the children are there because, even though they do have living parents, those parents literally cannot afford to feed them. Each pair of socks helps. "